Hampton Bays school in line for green award
A file photo of a school bus (May 3, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Hampton Bays Middle School, the first Leadership in Energy and Environment Design-certified building in the state, is one of three schools in New York nominated for federal Green Ribbon Schools recognition, education officials announced Thursday.
The school's application highlighted several integrated health and conservation efforts in the curriculum for its nearly 600 fifth- to eighth-graders, including such programs as a student Earth Club and the newly planted Good Ground Community School Garden.
"Building a school and doing nothing else with it is fine, but it would have been a missed opportunity to do nothing beyond that," said Lars Clemensen, the district's superintendent.
New York's Education Department received a total of 26 applications. The other two schools that the state Education Department nominated to the U.S. Department of Education for Green Ribbon Schools recognition are Sleepy Hollow Middle School in Sleepy Hollow and Bethlehem Central Middle School in Delmar.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan will announce winners of the inaugural Green Ribbon Schools competition on April 23, the day after Earth Day.
When Hampton Bays Middle School was being built in 2008, the construction site doubled as a recycling site and local materials were used. Dual heating systems run on oil or gas, whichever is less expensive. The building has sensors in all sinks and waterless urinals to save nearly 100,000 gallons of water each school year.
It is the first building in the state that was both LEED-certified and certified by NYS-Collaborative for High Performance Schools.
The Green Ribbon Schools program recognizes schools that save energy, reduce costs, feature environmentally sustainable learning spaces and offer environmental education to boost academic achievement and community engagement, according to the state Education Department.The recognition award is part of a larger effort to find and publicize practices that boost student engagement, academic achievement, graduation rates and workforce preparedness, as well as a governmentwide aim to increase energy independence and economic security.
